SP4 battery appears to be dead - need help/advice please

Question

About a month ago my SP4 (about two years old) stopped charging – the taskbar icon says "plugged in, not charging" and the battery has no charge whatsoever and if I remove the power it immediately turns off. Previous to that battery life wasn't great but definitely not terrible (I could get 4-5 hours out of it if not playing video or 2-3 hours if playing video).

I have done all the recommended fixes – reinstall/update/disable/enable battery drivers, cleaned the pins, applied latest MS firmware, done a two finger reset – all with no change. Googling a bit more led me to find the Powershell command to generate a battery report and having done that I can see that it's reporting the capacity to be -1mWh which I guess means it's completely dead. More disturbing, in the "Battery capacity history" section I can see the following entries:

Charge capacity history of the system's batteries

PERIOD FULL CHARGE CAPACITY DESIGN CAPACITY

2018-08-13 – 2018-08-20 32,386 mWh 38,152 mWh

...etc...

2018-10-08 – 2018-10-15 32,373 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-10-22 – 2018-10-29 32,280 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-10-29 – 2018-11-05 418,898,758 mWh 418,904,058 mWh <== ?!?!?!?

2018-11-05 – 2018-11-12 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-12 – 2018-11-19 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-19 – 2018-11-26 -1 mWh -1 mWh

...all further entries same as above...

So it looks like sometime between the 29th Oct and 5th Nov something caused the battery to massively spike the capacity to 418 million(!!!) mWh so I'm assuming this means my SP4 had a power surge while plugged in which has fried the battery or it's connectors

• could this be correct?

I do also believe it could be related to a BSOD and complete loss of Windows 10 Pro around the same time (I had to do a fresh install) and have a feeling whatever caused my system meltdown could have caused this as well. When plugged in the SP4 operates normally and I am having no other issues (that I know of) except the seemingly dead battery.

The full battery report is below but am interested to see what anyone thinks - if this is a spike and has rendered the SP4 unrepairable or inoperative on battery I will try to claim it on my insurance but I need to know what the experts think as I will need proof for the insurance company.

TIA,

Mike

Battery report

===============

SYSTEM PRODUCT NAME Microsoft Corporation Surface Pro 4

BIOS 108.2318.769 08/14/2018

OS BUILD 17134.1.amd64fre.rs4_release.180410-1804

PLATFORM ROLE Slate

CONNECTED STANDBY Supported

REPORT TIME 2018-12-08 08:31:33

Installed batteries

Information about each currently installed battery

BATTERY 1

NAME -

MANUFACTURER -

SERIAL NUMBER -

CHEMISTRY -

DESIGN CAPACITY -1 mWh

FULL CHARGE CAPACITY -1 mWh

CYCLE COUNT -

Recent usage

Power states over the last 3 days

START TIME STATE SOURCE CAPACITY REMAINING

2018-12-05 09:27:00 Active AC - -

18:59:15 Connected standby AC - -

19:44:25 Active AC - -

19:44:57 Connected standby AC - -

19:57:11 Active AC - -

19:58:14 Connected standby AC - -

2018-12-06 19:13:07 Active AC - -

19:14:21 Connected standby AC - -

20:18:23 Active AC - -

20:19:06 Connected standby AC - -

20:23:23 Active AC - -

20:24:16 Connected standby AC - -

20:24:27 Active AC - -

20:24:59 Connected standby AC - -

20:25:40 Active AC - -

20:26:33 Connected standby AC - -

20:32:24 Active AC - -

20:33:02 Connected standby AC - -

21:14:45 Active AC - -

2018-12-07 22:15:22 Connected standby AC - -

2018-12-08 07:54:25 Active AC - -

07:59:58 Battery changed AC - -

07:59:58 Active AC - -

08:05:00 Suspended - -

08:06:41 Battery changed AC - -

08:06:41 Active AC - -

08:09:53 Suspended - -

08:10:53 Active AC - -

08:20:47 Battery changed AC - -

08:20:47 Suspended - -

08:30:28 Active AC - -

08:31:33 Report generated AC - -

Battery usage

Battery drains over the last 3 days

START TIME STATE DURATION ENERGY DRAINED

---

Usage history

History of system usage on AC and battery

BATTERY DURATION AC DURATION

PERIOD ACTIVE CONNECTED STANDBY ACTIVE CONNECTED STANDBY

2018-08-13 – 2018-08-20 0:00:11 0:00:29 6:02:34 69:20:40

2018-08-20 – 2018-08-27 - 0:00:01 12:53:19 154:31:25

2018-08-27 – 2018-09-03 0:03:44 0:14:21 18:01:54 147:50:19

2018-09-03 – 2018-09-10 0:08:00 9:15:40 6:32:22 132:16:14

2018-09-10 – 2018-09-17 - 0:00:02 - -

2018-09-17 – 2018-09-24 - - 4:17:04 153:57:43

2018-09-24 – 2018-10-01 0:41:43 4:46:36 8:45:38 232:39:35

2018-10-01 – 2018-10-08 - - 8:25:18 159:19:25

2018-10-08 – 2018-10-15 - - 0:03:07 149:29:58

2018-10-15 – 2018-10-22 - - 0:10:26 121:56:55

2018-10-22 – 2018-10-29 - - - -

2018-10-29 – 2018-11-05 - - 22:44:53 25:52:04

2018-11-05 – 2018-11-12 - - 135:41:38 31:05:06

2018-11-12 – 2018-11-19 - - - 142:21:15

2018-11-19 – 2018-11-26 - - 90:51:36 45:32:09

2018-11-26 - - - 23:59:47

2018-11-27 - - - 23:59:51

2018-11-28 - - - 23:59:53

2018-11-29 - - 1:11:58 22:47:52

2018-11-30 - - - 23:59:53

2018-12-01 - - 0:02:50 23:57:03

2018-12-02 - - 3:54:54 20:04:32

2018-12-03 - - 18:26:25 5:33:17

2018-12-04 - - 0:04:51 23:54:52

2018-12-05 - - 11:17:11 12:42:21

2018-12-06 - - 2:50:01 21:09:39

2018-12-07 - - 22:15:00 1:44:36

Battery capacity history

Charge capacity history of the system's batteries

PERIOD FULL CHARGE CAPACITY DESIGN CAPACITY

2018-08-13 – 2018-08-20 32,386 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-08-20 – 2018-08-27 30,967 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-08-27 – 2018-09-03 32,836 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-09-03 – 2018-09-10 32,169 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-09-10 – 2018-09-17 31,957 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-09-17 – 2018-09-24 32,416 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-09-24 – 2018-10-01 32,499 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-10-01 – 2018-10-08 32,677 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-10-08 – 2018-10-15 32,373 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-10-15 – 2018-10-22 32,280 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-10-22 – 2018-10-29 32,280 mWh 38,152 mWh

2018-10-29 – 2018-11-05 418,898,758 mWh 418,904,058 mWh

2018-11-05 – 2018-11-12 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-12 – 2018-11-19 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-19 – 2018-11-26 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-26 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-27 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-28 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-29 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-11-30 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-12-01 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-12-02 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-12-03 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-12-04 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-12-05 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-12-06 -1 mWh -1 mWh

2018-12-07 -1 mWh -1 mWh

Battery life estimates

Battery life estimates based on observed drains

AT FULL CHARGE AT DESIGN CAPACITY

PERIOD ACTIVE CONNECTED STANDBY ACTIVE CONNECTED STANDBY

2018-08-13 – 2018-08-20 - - - -

2018-08-20 – 2018-08-27 - - - -

2018-08-27 – 2018-09-03 - - - -

2018-09-03 – 2018-09-10 3:13:47

80:44:14

20 % / 16 h 3:49:49

95:45:12

17 % / 16 h

2018-09-10 – 2018-09-17 -

0:00:34

169412 % / 16 h -

0:00:41

140488 % / 16 h

2018-09-17 – 2018-09-24 - - - -

2018-09-24 – 2018-10-01 3:47:05

58:58:50

27 % / 16 h 4:26:35

69:14:23

23 % / 16 h

2018-10-01 – 2018-10-08 - - - -

2018-10-08 – 2018-10-15 - - - -

2018-10-15 – 2018-10-22 - - - -

2018-10-22 – 2018-10-29 - - - -

2018-10-29 – 2018-11-05 - - - -

2018-11-05 – 2018-11-12 - - - -

2018-11-12 – 2018-11-19 - - - -

2018-11-19 – 2018-11-26 - - - -

2018-11-26 - - - -

2018-11-27 - - - -

2018-11-28 - - - -

2018-11-29 - - - -

2018-11-30 - - - -

2018-12-01 - - - -

2018-12-02 - - - -

2018-12-03 - - - -

2018-12-04 - - - -

2018-12-05 - - - -

2018-12-06 - - - -

2018-12-07 - - - -

Current estimate of battery life based on all observed drains since OS

install

Since OS install - - - -

Answer 1

Hello nzmike,

We can suggest you to run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit . After, do Surface Book Drivers and Firmware .

Keep us posted the outcome.

***If this resolves your issue, please indicate “Yes”, so that other learners can benefit, and please take our short survey to let us know if your support experience has been great or how we can improve.***

Regards,

Cleofe_P

Answer 2

Thanks for your reply. 

I ran the Surface Diagnostic app but I had to skip the battery tests where the AC adaptor has to be unplugged because the battery has no charge whatsoever so the unit immediately switches off if I remove it (as I stated in my question).  The rest of the tests were fine (except for the touch test which failed even though the touch screen is fine) so unfortunately there was no real information there.

I had also already installed the latest firmware (v18_045_01) over the weekend (as I also said in my question) without any change.  I did try again but it only gave me the option to remove it since it is already installed.

I also took it into the Microsoft store in Sydney (Australia) where I live yesterday and they were not willing to help in any way since the device is a few months out of warranty.  I find this really really terrible - this is my third Surface Pro (not to mention loads of Windows Phones) yet Microsoft couldn't recognise a loyal customer and help me out with a replacement unit.... very, very disappointing.

Anyway, just wondering if you had any further advice for me?

Answer 3

>I also took it into the Microsoft store in Sydney (Australia) where I live yesterday and they were not willing to help in any way since the device is a few months out of warranty.

they were not even willing to look at it?

Answer 4

Hi Barb, sorry for late reply - I've been away on a business trip and didn't get a chance to check back here.

All the so-called "expert" in the store did was check that that another power supply would not power the unit (which I told him I'd already done) then pronounced the battery dead and said there wasn't anything they could do due to it being a few months out of warranty.  If he'd known his stuff at all he would have run the diagnostics as suggested above or checked the battery drivers, look at the event viewer etc but he did none of that.  Neither did he consult with anyone else or make any effort to get the manager to review his decision.   I don't know how these people can be called experts - call me a cynic but it seems to me all they want to do is to get people to spend another wad of cash on a new device.

However, since googling and posting this issue elsewhere I am now pretty sure the battery isn't dead but rather something internal is broken.  Due to this I called my insurance company and said somehow it had gotten damaged (which must be true, still pretty sure it was a power surge of some sort) and would not charge and they have agreed to replace it (all credit to them).

I am disgusted by the the non-caring attitude of the MS store here in Sydney though - just to compare (and I am not an Apple fanboy) I recently took my 4 year old iPad 4 into the local Apple store as it's battery was genuinely on it's last legs.  I didn't want to spend a bundle on a new iPad and they said no problem and promptly ordered me a  replacement unit for $129 with no quibbles... if MS had even offered me something like that I would have taken it.

Answer 5

Hi,

• We would like to know if your Surface device stil turn on or not?
• Have you tried using another charger?

*If the device wont turn it on, the issue could be the battery, the power charger, or the device itself.

Thank you,

Cleofe_P